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Saturday 30 June 2012

Feature: The Twisted Wheel

The Twisted Wheel
by Sam Warri


It’s 1963. The Beatles are yet to go global, the colourful explosion that would become ‘The Swinging Sixties’ is on the horizon. A post-war Britain is enjoying a boom in the economy meaning that for the first time young people have disposable income. This means they can spend money on what they like, and what’s important to them; clothes, music, scooters, motorbikes, cars and going out and having fun. Mary Quant is about to have a light bulb moment and raise hemlines and eyebrows with the invention of the miniskirt. Vidal Sassoon is about to create the bob hair cut, and fashion boutiques like Barbara Hulanicki’s Biba were about to crop up in the capital. 
But before this happened, a club in Manchester was opening its doors for the first time, and was soon to become one of the most iconic clubs of the decade. 

The Twisted Wheel opened as a jazz and blues bar, originally on Brazennose Street near the Deansgate area and was the brainchild of the three Adabi brothers Jack, Philip and Ivor. The club soon expanded and moved to Whitworth Street in 1966, where the Twisted Wheel club nights are still held. Down a steep flight of stairs is the dark cellar club, split into different cave like rooms, a bar, and a small stage and DJ booth that overlooks the small dancefloor. There is little to no space to sit down, the lighting is minimal and the air is stagnant and heavy. This dingy place is said to be the place that gave birth to the huge phenomenon that is the northern soul scene. Legends nightclub as it is now known has been threatened with closure recently, after the building the club is beneath has been sold to Development Company Olympian homes, who have plans to tear down the building to build a new hotel. Dedicated soul fans from England and beyond have been devastated by the news that the birthplace of such an iconic music movement could be torn down to make way for yet another hotel in the city centre. 

Historically The Twisted Wheel changed the nocturnal habits of the local youngsters. At the weekends the ‘all nighters’ started at eleven at night going on till after seven in the morning, with young men and women dancing till their clothes were soaked in sweat. “It was a big part of the mod scene” life long fan Fred Dickie shouts over the thumping music and excited chatting at the clubs Sunday Session which takes place once a month. “We had to take holdalls to change our clothes, you’d be that sweaty from dancing all night, the shirt would freeze to your back if you went out in the cold afterwards, it was like having a shower.” Anyone you speak to often refers to the nights as being hot and sweaty, and there is always a hushed admittance that there was a helping hand when it came to dancing all night, a little thing called speed, or amphetamine, a drug heavily linked to the mod and soul scene. “It was just the done thing, everybody did it, everyone had eyes like saucers, it was just what we did to stay up all night.” Drinamyl or ‘Purple Hearts’ as they were called in the clubs, were also commonly used, newspaper articles at the time mentioned ‘young people staggering out of clubs at 5am with dilated pupils.’

I met original DJ Brian Walker who used to play records at the club, and he recalls the same thing. “People would break into chemists before they got there (The Twisted Wheel) if they couldn’t get any gear before. Then they would sell it on. The police soon got suspicious that there was a club full of kids going into a club opening at 11pm and walking out at 8am the following morning still perky and chatty, they often turned up unannounced, or uninvited as it were.” At the time nightclubs played regular soul and rhythm 'n' blues, music that could be heard in any club open at the time but the Adabis wanted to do things differently. They began importing soul records from America rather than buying them in the local record shops. This created a unique sound for the club, some of the songs that they played were even rare in America, and people turned up in their droves to experience what was happening. Situated right next to Piccadilly train station, the club was in a perfect location. As word got out about this cutting edge discotheque people started travelling from all over the country to get on the concrete dance floor.

Today is no exception, soul fans from every corner of the country make the pilgrimage to the original soul Mecca of the north, a title swiftly pinched by Wigan Casino in the 1970’s, a huge soul club which was opened in the light of the success and popularity of The Twisted Wheel. The brothers owned a second club in Blackpool, but it never matched up to its sibling. Today there may be slight changes to the club, the bar now sells alcohol for example, when it was first opened none of the Adabi brothers had an alcohol licence, not that it stopped anyone from going. The people that go may not be as young as they once were, but The Twisted Wheel club nights clearly emulate what happened here many years ago. Pete Roberts who runs The Twisted Wheel is very much against the closure of the club. He compared the loss of the club to be similar to Liverpool losing the Cavern. “They only have a Mickey Mouse cavern now, bet they (Liverpool Council) wish they hadn’t pulled it down. The Twisted Wheel is the most iconic club of our time; its importance should not be underestimated. We were importing black American artists when there was segregation in America and treated them like gods".

Beatin’ Rhythm is a record shop on Tibb Street in the Northern Quarter area of Manchester. It provides soul fans with a huge selection of vinyl to choose from and has been strongly linked to the Manchester Soul scene. Owner Derek Howe thinks that once the building is in the hands of the development there will be no stopping the club being closed down. “With all the names and the signatures in the world we won’t be able to stop it. I don’t think it will stop the northern soul scene, it’s just bricks and mortar. Of course it will be a shame, but people will still have a good time somewhere else. Northern soul is as popular as it’s ever been, the soul fans have always been and will always be very dedicated.”

The Twisted Wheel was the platform for many soul singers’ careers, the list of people who have played there is more than impressive. Tina Turner, Junior Walker and Edwin Starr have all graced the tiny stage at the beginning of their careers. Sugar Pie De Santo is 77, is a retired soul singer who lives in Oakland California, who says she owes a lot of her success to the British soul scene. “I’ve not been to England in 48 years. You should ask them to have me back, I’d come all that way to play for people like that again. The fans over there were so loyal and friendly it would be a sad day if a place they enjoyed was to be pulled down.”

So will the northern soul scene be affected if the nightclub was to be pulled down for yet another hotel in Manchester’s city centre? Fred Dickie is optimistic. “I will come here until it closes, and then I will go wherever it goes afterwards, and I’m sure other people will too. If it stays here that will be fantastic, if it goes what will be, will be.” With such die hard and dedicated fans who travel all over the country in order to dance to the music they love, merely moving venues may not alter the atmosphere it is popular for, and may not mean a full reinvention of the Twisted Wheel.

Friday 29 June 2012

Event: Terry Rawlings presents Jump & Dance

The Rhythm Factory in collaboration with writer, designer and Mod icon Terry Rawlings present Jump & Dance -A Celebration of Mod, Garage & Punk- (1964-1979).

A season of essential British bands from yesteryear, including The Pretty Things, The Yardbirds, Zoot Money, The Chords, The Pleasers and many more.

Terry Rawling's first break in the Mod Scene cam courtesy of Paul Weller when All Our Yesterdays’ was published by The Jam. He went onto work as designer for bands signed to the Sire, Warner Brothers and Stiff record labels. Terry came to prominence in 1994 with his highly contoversial book ‘Who Killed Christopher Robin?' Other writing credit Include Good Times Bad Times: The Definitive Diary of The Rolling Stones 1960-1969 and Quite Naturally- The Small Faces: A Day-By-Day Guide To The Career Of A Pop Group’ , Mod – A Very British Phenomenon’, plus many other high profile Mod tomes.

Tickets are available from ticketweb.co.uk. For more info please go to the Facebook page or the Rhythm Factory website.

Thursday 28 June 2012

New Camden hard rock/psych club begins

On the first Friday of every month at Camden's Black Heart, Hard N' Hairy is free and fuzzing your face off!

DJs Olly Osbourne and Skill Wizard, along with regular special guests (this month it's Tony Sylvester of Turbonegro), bring you the very best in freaking 60's and 70's heavy rock, psych, beat, fuzz, proto metal, glam rock, garage and everything inbetween, from big hits to the obscure.. along with a psychedelic exploitation cinema show screening enough rare and sleazy cuts to make a vicar blush.

Expect to hear, they say, BLACK SABBATH, EDGAR BROUGHTON BAND, DEVIANTS, THE ATTACK, LUCIFER'S FRIEND, THE ULTIMATE SPINACH, PINK FAIRIES, HAWKWIND, HUMBLE PIE, LEAFHOUND, FORCE, QUARTZ, FIRE, THE GUN, MC5, THE ANIMALS, BLUE OYSTER CULT, SAMUEL PRODY, THE SMALL FACES, TIGER B SMITH, BLUE CHEER, MOTORHEAD, THE OUTSIDERS, THIN LIZZY, FRIJID PINK, THE PRETTY THINGS etc.

Friday July 6th
Upstairs @ The Black Heart
2 - 3 Greenland Place, Camden, London, NW1 OAP
9pm - 2am, free entry

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Record Review - Brain Washington

BRAIN WASHINGTON
BAD ACID/L.S.D.

Death Pop 7"

This double A-side debut single from our spirited London trio has been a long time coming. Something like five years toil has been put into this band, and just to show how fiercely independently-minded they are they wouldn't release this black slab until they were perfectly happy with it. When you record, produce, design, film, and manage yourself none of your mistakes can be blamed on others.

So what are the results? Immediately you can hear the amalgamation of yer 60s garage fuzz 45s, proto-punk insane guitar playing sensibility, and those slabs of more-recent-vintage greasy rock-o-rama from Mudhoney and Sonic Youth. 'Bad Acid' has that Acid Gallery vibe of demented vocals and overblown fuzz that weighs heavily on the ears and yet makes you headbang involuntarily. Hard'n'Heavy indeed! 'L.S.D' meanwhile is an instrumental that leans on the 'mental' part of the adjective. The guitar riff sounds like an uncontrollable fire hose spraying us with fuzz and sparing no one. The rhythm section play like they're competing in the 100m final. Olympian indeed!

The label tell us to "file under: ferocious, fuzzed-up, head-piercing psychedelic mayhem", and it is a worthy addition to that section of my record collection. They must have been taking exactly the right type of lysergic pharmaceuticals to come up with such outpourings. And please make the next single appear soon, yeah guys and gals? You have our overwhelming support.

Phil Istine

Legendary High Wycombe venue resurrected

The Home Counties' most famous (some may say infamous) rock venue is back from the dead. After several false starts, The Nags Head Blues Loft - a venue that played host to everyone from The Rolling Stones and The Who through Uriah Heep to Radio Birdman, Blondie and The Sex Pistols (as well as half of the country's psych and prog names) between the mid-60s and mid-90s - has reopened, relaunching itself with a succession of gigs from names both old and new. Decked out in beautifully psychedelic shades of pink and purple, it contains a full 300-capacity upstairs room, a smaller downstairs acoustic/dj bar complete with piano, a back room/games room with its own organ, and soon to come- a cinema!! A haven of rock and roll in suburban Buckinghamshire, it intends not to trade on past glories but build on them, making the area once more resonate with the sound of great music.

To give you a flavour of what's coming up, here's two gig listings!

*GENO WASHINGTON AND THE RAM JAM BAND*
FRIDAY JULY 13


Yes, he's back again..the man Dexys loved so much they named their best known song after him. Expect 'Michael' 'Hi Hi Hazel' 'Que Sera' and all the usual classics.

+ DJ Smart Phil playing soul R&B ska and beat. Doors 6.30 pm til 2 30 am. The gig proper finishes at 11pm. Tickets £12 advance from www.wegottickets.com and the venue

*LEAF HOUND plus DESERT STORM, SEDULUS and BLACK JUJU*
SATURDAY JULY 21


The legendary early 70s heavy psych-blues rockers who all but invented the stoner genre with the classic Growers Of Mushroom album in 1971 on Decca, and have been active again since 2004, will be playing an exclusive warm up date here before they decamp to Japan for a series of dates set up by Leaf Hound Records- a label named after them!! For all heavy Shindiggers and fans of the Hard Stuff column, this should be a legendary evening.

+ classic retro, heavy, prog and psych rock DJ downstairs afterwards
Doors 6.30 pm til 2 30 am. Tickets £10 advance from www.wegottickets.com and the venue

For more info:
www.facebook.com/Nags HeadBluesLoft
63 LONDON ROAD, HIGH WYCOMBE, BUCKS, HP11 1BN
01494 257643
Nearest station: High Wycombe (Chiltern Rail) Nearest tube: Amersham (Met Line and Chiltern Rail) then no. 4, 52 or 62 bus to Wycombe town centre.

Wednesday 27 June 2012

Record Review – Scott Kelly, Steve Von Till & Wino

SCOTT KELLY, STEVE VON TILL & WINO
Songs Of Townes Van Zandt 
Neurot
There's been a real glut of tribute LPs, EPs and 45s of late. Indeed, the Fruits de Mer label seems to be basing its entire raison d'ĂȘtre on rehashing great moments of music's past. The art world has been playing with for recreation of seminal moments in cultural history for quite some years now, most notably with the work of Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard whose collaborative reconstructions of such magical Mojo moments as David Bowie's final Ziggy Stardust concert and The Cramps' 1978 gig in The Napa Mental Institute serve as meditations upon the meaning of authenticity, historicity and memory. In the music world too, there have been clever, purposeful revisitations of collective pasts such as Pussy Galore's cover of Exile On Main Street in its entirety: a work that descends into the vagueness of forgetting and gleeful noise as it lurches towards its glorious collapse.


Generally, though, collections of other people's songs seem to serve little purpose other than to remind the listener of just how good the originals were – and I say this as someone who's appeared on a tribute LP myself! Back in the late ’80s, a teenage garage R'n'B combo I fronted, The Beatpack, were asked to appear on an LP of cover versions of songs by The (Dutch) Outsiders. Given that we'd covered maybe six or seven of their songs over time, it seemed churlish to refuse. We bashed out a halfway decent version of 'Misfit', added our own slight twist, and off the track went into the universe, serving mainly to reiterate the wonder of the CQ version. At the time, we were happy just to spread the love for one of our biggest influences, not realising we were almost certainly preaching solely to the converted and adding little if anything to the band's ’60s oeuvre!


And so it is with this lil' ol' ragged country thing I have on my record deck here. That anyone even remotely touched by the good side of country music would wish to pay tribute to the dark genius of Townes Van Zandt is no surprise at all. Gone some 15 long years now, his sombre, bitter, brooding music continues to bewitch and haunt most who come into contact with it. That one might wish to go back to his old recordings time and time again and gaze into their glacial gloom is also understandable. What is less so is why anyone needs to hear these songs represented through someone else's filter. Not that there's anything inherently wrong with any of the loving renditions offered up here; it's just that they bleed into something of an emotional monotone, add nothing to the originals and will surely only be appreciated by those already au fait with the great man himself.


I hope I'm wrong and that this might just draw some young kid somewhere back to Flyin' Shoes or Our Mother, The Mountain.
But I doubt it.

Hugh Dellar

Record Review - Nathan Persad

NATHAN PERSAD
NATHAN PERSAD IN COLOUR
Mile High CD / download


Since his debut album Since 1978, the south London songwriter and former member of The Fore with the obsession for The Hollies and The Move has been indulging in what sounds like new loves for surf, doo-wop, girl groups, glam rock and Dexys Midnight Runners. Such diverse inspirations has certainly made the results more filling. 


It sounds as if it was a gas to record. Lead track 'We're Back On!' channels the Dave Clark Five beat sensibility, with the handclap football terrace riff  from The Routers 'Let's Go' carefully/cheekily inserted too. The story of 'Tony Bender' is like 'Richard Cory' meets 'Tracy Jacks' sung by Kevin Rowland and set to a Pet Sounds melody. In other words, a glorious pop song - with a cautionary moral tale buried within. My favourite song is probably 'I Don't Want To Surf Alone', a yelping, yearning early Beach Boys style cut, with an unlikely call out to Weston Super Mare nestled within. The inspiration/pastiche tightrope is very hard to walk. Joe Meek, Phil Spector, Lee Hazelwood, King-Goffin, Slade, Hendrix, and Huey 'Piano' Smith could all sue...or just smile and enjoy the offshoots of their not-forgotten work.


Persad is not afraid to name-check his heroes - 'Johnny Echols' is not obviously a tribute to the Love guitarist and more a tongue-in-cheek ruse to win a girl over by playing a rock star. And the freewheeling stomp-along of 'Sweetie' nicks the chorus from 'Wild Thing', whilst 'XB-100' belatedly inserts the melody of ‘Paperback Writer’ as Persads waxes lyrical about Macca's genius. He finishes off  with a frat rock'n'roll party blaster that's heavily indebted to the well-loved 'Don't You Just Know It'.


In summary then, ...In Colour is a fun, non-original paen to Oldies music played on AM radio in all it's glory.


Phil Istine

Record Review - The New Piccadillys

THE NEW PICCADILLYS
JUDY IS A PUNK
All Tore Up 7"


Inspired pop-rockin', rhythm'n'blues sounding version of The Ramones' eponymous LP stop-dead winner by a just new on the scene, immaculately suited and booted, gear beat combo from around Glasgow/Edinburgh way. The
group includes George Miller, former lynchpin of The Kaisers, and also features the impeccable drumming skills of Mike Goodwin of The Thanes.


So, what they've done here, basically, is switched the rhythmic emphasis around, added cool twangs, handclaps, a little blues harp, and sweet back-up vox. The result is a super-neat cappucino-frothy, milkshake bar toe-tapper a la Earl Preston, Kingsize Taylor, or similar early Merseybeatin' pop swingers. The featured flip is 'Misery' and was originally waxed-up by early '60s Michigan combo The Dynamics; a group the early Who were rather fond of. This too is a fine re-make and showcases their ability to serve up strong vocals, with plenty of rollin 'n' rumblin' snare and tom-tom action, and twangy reverberations. A little less of a raver, perhaps, but still it too is a confident, upbeat, thrillingly authentic beat-rock performance in every sense. Both sides of this disc are a splendid spin indeed. Can't wait to
hear the LP.


Lenny Helsing

Tuesday 26 June 2012

Event Preview: New Street Soul Club

New Street Soul Club
Thursday June 28th, Central London

Bringing back a new thing: soulful sounds for the new generation. New Street Adventure, the fast rising London Soul Band have just released their debut single and EP 'Say It Like You Mean It' and embarked on their first nationwide tour. They present a clubnight alongside Sweet but Deadly Promotions at the 100 Club. Guest DJs spin soulful sounds (northern soul, 60's, 70's, R&B, Motown, Stax) from past and maybe even the present, alongside live music by New Street Adventure themselves and special guests. The April date saw a packed 100 Club venue, and we are sure the dancefloor will  be packed again this month with people getting their kicks out on the floor.

Playing Live:
THE BRIGHTS

NEW STREET ADVENTURE

THE LAST OF THE TROUBADOURS

Soulful DJs:
Gary Crowley (BBC London)
Dean Chalkley + Si Cheeba (Black Cat)
The Big A.C (Sussex Soul Club)
Smart Phil (Sweet But Deadly)

@ The 100 Club
100 Oxford St, London, W1D 1LL
Tube: Tottenham Court Road/Oxford Circus
Doors: 7.30pm-midnight, tickets are £6 from here in advance, and £8 on the door. Plus there’s an after-party at The Bar, on Hanway St!



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Record Review - The J-Pegs

THE J-PEGS
HARD COUNTRY EP
Wild Honey download


If you got a Small Faces album, a Donovan album, couple of The Byrds singles and mixed them in a multi-coloured melting pot with a bit of The Kinks and The Beatles around the time of Paperback Writer, you wont be far off The J-Pegs EP.

With jangling guitars, dreamy harmonies and Steve Marriot-style lyrics, you would be forgiven for thinking this was a 60’s summer pop album. 'She Had Everything' is like The Beatles after they had discovered smoking weed, the floaty harmonies and the ‘She had Jesus’ lyrics is reminiscent of the Fab Four when they were as high as kites. A perfect summer soundtrack the tracks are light and sunny, with harmonies that give you the feeling of being a bit drunk in the park, lying in the sunshine with a light head and mellow mood.

If this EP was a piece of clothing it would definitely be a loose fitting shirt. In Paisley, that should go without saying. If it was a road it would be Carnaby Street, and if it was a TV show, it would be Ready Steady GO. A collection of tunes that make you feel like it’s 1965 and the world is in Technicolor, Twiggy was cool and hemlines were shorter than short and people said the word ‘Groovy’ without a hint of sarcasm.

Mr Marriot would approve.

Sam Warri

Record Review - Sendelica


Sendelica
The Satori In Elegance Of The Majestic Stonegazer

These are good times for fans of spacey psychedelia with excellent recent new albums from White Hills, Carlton Melton, White Manna and Eternal Tapestry. To add to those names, Welsh warlords Sendelica have a newie out. The band has been active for several years producing consistently high quality music throughout their career, this time putting out a CD/DVD package, which radiates mescal from its freaky artwork.

The first track roars straight out of the blocks with a monster wah-wah guitar riff and obligatory whooshing noises. Thereafter, it doesn’t just follow the same template, touching on numerous bases with subdued electronica soundscapes and some neat instrumental touches like electric sitar and heavily treated sax. This is certainly for the best as the album starts to sound a little samey when they just stick to repetitive heavy guitar riffs.

Sendelica never sound quite as transcendent as some of the other bands mentioned above but they’re consistently listenable and occasionally strafe the sky when their TNT guitar work melts in to long instrumental moon tides. Not essential but more than enough titillation for space-rock heads everywhere.

Austin Matthews


Monday 25 June 2012

Record Review - Elika

ELIKA
ALWAYS THE LIGHT

‘Nice voice.’ ‘Yeah, nice voice.’ ‘Stevie Nicks sort of thing.’ ‘Yeah.’ ‘Nice synths.’ ‘If you say so.’
‘Don’t you like it?’ ‘It’s alright.’ ‘No, I mean, the sound, you know…’ ‘What?’
‘Sort of sweet. Comforting. Relaxing.’ ‘Yeah I suppose so’
 ‘Well don’t just agree with me; say something.’ ‘Not much to say, is there? Just sort of drifts in and out’
‘I like her voice. Honey dipped, wouldn’t you say?’ ‘Yeah, honey dipped’ 
‘The synths are good. Unobtrusive; complement her voice well.’ ‘Yeah, sure’
‘For heaven’s sake, you must have more to say than just ‘Yeah sure.’ ‘Whatever’
‘What about that one that rocked a bit? ‘Count your Steps’ that’s more you isn’t it?’ ‘Yeah, it was alright’
‘It’s like trying to get blood out of a stone. You must have thought something of ‘Stay Beside Me’; beautiful touching love song? Or ‘Trials’; a tender confessional. No?’
‘I just don’t see the point of this music. It comes in; it goes out and says next to nothing while it’s here.’
‘My stars, I think you just expressed an opinion.’ ‘Yeah, well I hope you think it was worth provoking me for.’
‘No need to get grouchy, I just wanted to hear what you thought of it, that’s all.’ ‘The same as I think of all this shoegazey, synthy stuff; a waste of time. Why do you like it so much?’
‘I don’t, much. I just like a few things I’ve heard and you know I’ll forgive a lot when there’s a good voice singing it.’
‘Sure, whatever you say. I just think if it isn’t grabbing me by the lapels and shaking me, it’s not worth the candle.’
‘OK. Coffee?’ ‘Yeah, great.’

‘Can’t we just have it on, you know, in the background?’

Scenester

Sunday 24 June 2012

Interview with The Wizards of Delight

Austin Matthews speaks to The Wizards from Wessex.

Shindig!: Who or what are The Wizards of Delight?

Rarg: We are throbbing, glowing, fractal beings of pure psychedelic energy, roaming the kingdom of Wessex and beyond, bringing righteous music to anyone who dares cross our path. We formed ourselves through the Aether, and have created music through means of long-distance psychic communication. That, and we're basically a Simon & Garfunkel for Live-Action Roleplayers.

Shindig!: You describe yourselves as ‘medieval boogie’ – can you expand on this a little more?

Mazzereth: Imagine Status Quo dressed up as Circulus and sounding like the year 2000 as imagined in the 1950s while being obsessed with judgement day...that's medieval boogie.

Shindig!: Where does the medieval element come into your music? Do you employ an electric dulcimer or psaltery?

Rarg: Sadly not. If we had access to them, we would have used a pipe organ and a cimbalom on a couple of the tunes. And a cittern or a hurdy-gurdy (I love a good hurdy-gurdy). Medieval instruments are fucking ace! Maybe next time.

Shindig!: ‘Time Travel Lady’ is a ferocious boogie stomper with a great synth breakdown. Is this emblematic of your material?

Rarg: You just wait until you hear the 26-minute orchestral psychedelic space-rock EPIC about a misunderstood genius who sets off on an intergalactic voyage and encounters space demons from beyond the black hole. You will shit yourself in astonishment AND cry with triumph and joy at the same time.

Shindig!: What are the plans for the Wizards? World domination?

Mazzereth: World Domination would be good…and I would make an excellent rock star...I have read all the books and seen all the vidz...I know what to do...I'm ready.

Shindig!: What other bands have you played in?

Rarg: Oh God, I've played in something like 50 bands, of all sorts, ranging from top 40 weddings n' functions covers bands (and yes, I have played ‘Lady In Red’), to acoustic folk groups, choirs, pit orchestras, blues, country n' western, plus a jazz big band or two. I also spent 12 years playing keyboards and co-writing songs for the mighty and awesome Smokehand and I now play in deranged instrumental surf-psych-prog trio, Mustard Allegro.

Mazzereth: I used to play in the following...Battlewitch (REAL Heavy Metal), Peace (70s Rock), Trebuchet (Super Rock). I now play in Ratz Ass (Ultra Party Downer Blues) and Groan (Thunder Boogie Doom ‘N’ Roll)

Shindig!: Are you planning on playing live at any point?

Rarg: If you invoke us, either through runes, a sacred magickal circle, or if you send us an email, we shall appear.

Shindig!: Finally, of what feat of wizardry are you most proud?

Rarg: I dunno about actual wizardry, but I once made a piece of music out of recording the sound of my own piss and some samples of Benjamin Britten's Four Sea Interludes. I call it "A Drop in the Ocean".

Friday 22 June 2012

Record Review - Syd Arthur

Syd Arthur
On An On
Dawn Chorus CD

Hate to admit it, but my dear old ma was right when she tried to stop me ditching an entire season’s-worth of teenage wardrobe with her tedious mantra “wait long enough, and everything comes back into fashion.”

Suddenly we’re awash with young turks who’ve discovered the, ahem, delights of prog at its most hallucinogenic. You’ll probably be hearing quite a bit about Canterbury-based four piece Syd Arthur over the next few months because they’re astonishingly self-assured and sound like an established long-haired ’70s band hitting a mid-career high. Instead, this is their debut album, and it’s eye-wateringly dynamic from start to finish. But their instrumental virtuosity – which is often spookily reminiscent of their Canterbury fore-fathers Caravan (although no relation, as far as I can tell) – can’t disguise one major irritant: they appear so committed to their cause that singer Liam Magill has even adopted one of those funny, affected accents favoured by many a mystical folkie in days of yore, as a means of reminding us they’re away with the faeries.

Chris Twomey

Record Review - Beak >


BEAK >
>> 
 
Beak> is the experimental side project of Portishead’s Geoff Barrow, along with two other Bristol musicians, Matt Williams and Billy Fuller. Simply called >>, this is their second album since forming in 2009, and despite largely following a similar template e.g. “recorded in one room live [with very few over dubs]” it’s possibly less unconventional than its predecessor >. That said, it never follows a mainstream path even at its most accessible, although traces of Portishead are occasionally discernible.

Opening track ‘The Gaul’ is a discordant cacophony to say the least, but there’s something very gripping to the point of mesmeric about it too, in a masochistic kind of way. I can see how it could make queasy listening for some people though, kind of like an aural equivalent to the way that strobe lights affect some epileptics!

Neu! are the most obvious reference point on >>, with some Can and a bit of Kraftwerk thrown in for good measure to further solidify the Krautrock influences, particularly on sublime tracks like ‘Yatton’, ‘Spinning Top’ and ‘Liar’. ‘Wulfstan II’ deviates into heavier and darker realms and has a distinct metallic industrial feel to it, thanks to the sonorous bass riff and short sharp sonic shocks. At times there are distant similarities to Mogwai too, particularly on closing track ‘Kidney’, as it builds up to a droning hypnotic, gut rumbling climax before gently fading out.

It might be too easy to describe anything with a repetitive 4/4 beat as motorik these days, but there simply isn’t any better description for it, and it’s nothing less than kosmische too: you’ll be hard pushed to find a finer example of contemporary Krautrock influenced sounds right now. Broadly speaking then, Beak> have the ability to inspire awe and strike dumb in equal measure – a lo-fi classic indeed and truly outstanding album to boot! Can we have some live dates to accompany this release please?

Rich Deakin

Thursday 21 June 2012

Record Review - The Dynamite Pussy Club

THE DYNAMITE PUSSY CLUB
Church Of Yeah
Motor Sounds CD/Download


The Bath trio with the breathtaking name make short sharp songs that you'd probably rummage around to classify as psychobilly garage punk. The press release bafflingly mentions James Brown and funk, whereas I hear a sound reminiscent of the first White Stripes albums, but even heavier.


With no bass player The Riff is king here, and they feel relentless. It's sometimes headache-inducing in fact. From the wind tunnel guitars of first song 'Testify' to the drums a go-go Cramps attack of 'Crab Bait' the words are mostly indecipherable, but that's not the point. The adolescent joy in the music is tangible. The biggest drawback is how all the songs sound too alike. When they inject some originality, like with the wonderfully kooky theremin solo on 'Sick', they show what they're capable of.


If lo-fi rock'n'roll for the Jim Jones Revue generation is your (sick)bag you should maybe spend some time at worship in this 'Church'.


Phil Istine

Wednesday 20 June 2012

Record Review – Bezoar


BEZOAR
Wyt Deth
Bezoar CD/LP

Bezoar’s music has been described as psychedelic -sludge but I would classify them as a "weird-doom" band. Their debut album has been on constant rotation in my life for the last two weeks. This would usually sound like a huge recommendation but there’s more to it that that. Conscious I would have to review it, I needed to understand it, to be able to classify it and delve inside its strengths and shortcomings. So far I’ve failed.

Why’s this? Well, on first impression I didn’t like it at all. In Sara Villard’s occasional yelped vocals and the frantic shifts in mood and gear I detected a whiff of hipster-ism, not helped by the fact that the band hail from New York – world capital of the irony-clad.

Then I listened to it again and I didn’t get that feeling at all. Instead I enjoyed those sudden changes in tempo, the way the vocals alternately soar and then dive into powerful exhortations, the way the arrangements mimic classic doom but with everything askew, the occasional drop-outs into dark fireside acoustic

Then there’s things I notice that alternately annoy and beguile – the lack of grooves on the album grates for one, but then Sara’s vocal will alight on a complex riff that will take a hold in my cerebellum or an off-kilter guitar solo will burn incandescently. So I play it again and again and again. And that I suppose is the greatest recommendation of all.

Austin Matthews

Events – Bond Style






DESIGNING 007 
Fifty Years of Bond Style at The Barbican


The items will be displayed alongside those which they later inspired – the orange bikini worn by Halle Berry in DIE ANOTHER DAY and Daniel Craig’s sky blue trunks from CASINO ROYALE, and are among 400 works comprising the Designing 007 - Fifty Years of Bond Style exhibition which opens at London’s Barbican Centre next month.

The Barbican has joined forces with EON Productions to create a unique exhibition curated by the Barbican, guest-curated by fashion historian Bronwyn Cosgrave and Oscar®-winning costume designer Lindy Hemming and designed by Ab Rogers.

With unprecedented access to EON’s production archive, Designing 007 – Fifty Years of Bond Style is a multi-sensory experience where screen icons, costumes, production design, automobiles, gadgets, special effects, graphic design, exotic locations, weapons, stunts and props combine to immerse the audience in the creation and development of Bond style over its auspicious 50 year history.

Exhibits on display also include Scaramanga’s Golden Gun from THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN, Oddjob’s steel-rimmed bowler hat and the proto-type of Rosa Klebb’s deadly flick-knife shoes worn in FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, Tee-Hee’s metal arm from LIVE AND LET DIE and Jaws’ fearsome teeth which first appeared in THE SPY WHO LOVED ME.

Among the other specially commissioned costume recreations overseen by Lindy Hemming are Goldfinger’s golden dinner jacket, Pussy Galore’s golden waistcoat and the suit Sean Connery was wearing when he first appeared on screen in DR NO, together with originals of Roger Moore’s white tuxedo from OCTOPUSSY and Spacesuit from MOONRAKER.

Vehicles and gadgets on display include the 1964 Aston Martin DB5 which famously returned to the screen in GOLDENEYE; Pierce Brosnan’s BMW motorcycle from TOMORROW NEVER DIES; the attachĂ© case featured in FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE and Pierce Brosnan’s state of the art Ericsson mobile phone from TOMORROW NEVER DIES.

They take their place alongside original graphic drawings and models including the design for the Jetpack piloted by Bond in THUNDERBALL; the storyboard for the action sequence in YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE featuring mini-helicopter Little Nellie, together with the miniature Wet Nellie Lotus Esprit used for filming in THE SPY WHO LOVED ME.

The exhibition will transform many of the Barbican spaces including The Silk Street Entrance, the Curve gallery, the Pit theatre and some of the public foyer spaces to take visitors on a journey through a dozen themed rooms and environments reflecting 50 years of Bond style.

The exhibition will tour internationally over a three year period.


Tickets 
Book online at barbican.org.uk/bond (booking fee applies)
Standard £12
Yellow Members £10
Red/Orange Members £8
Concessions: £10, Under 16s £8

Designing 007 - Catalogue 
The exhibition will be accompanied by a lavishly illustrated 192 page catalogue, with essays by exhibition curators and Bond biographer, Andrew Lycett

Designing 007 - Shop 
The Barbican gift shop will present an exciting range of 007 inspired gifts including collectable limited editions; vintage book editions; accessories and homewares.
The items will be displayed alongside those which they later inspired – the orange bikini worn by Halle Berry in DIE ANOTHER DAY and Daniel Craig’s sky blue trunks from CASINO ROYALE, and are among 400 works comprising the Designing 007 - Fifty Years of Bond Style exhibition which opens at London’s Barbican Centre next month.
The Barbican has joined forces with EON Productions to create a unique exhibition curated by the Barbican, guest-curated by fashion historian Bronwyn Cosgrave and Oscar®-winning costume designer Lindy Hemming and designed by Ab Rogers.

With unprecedented access to EON’s production archive, Designing 007 – Fifty Years of Bond Style is a multi-sensory experience where screen icons, costumes, production design, automobiles, gadgets, special effects, graphic design, exotic locations, weapons, stunts and props combine to immerse the audience in the creation and development of Bond style over its auspicious 50 year history.

Exhibits on display also include Scaramanga’s Golden Gun from THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN, Oddjob’s steel-rimmed bowler hat and the proto-type of Rosa Klebb’s deadly flick-knife shoes worn in FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, Tee-Hee’s metal arm from LIVE AND LET DIE and Jaws’ fearsome teeth which first appeared in THE SPY WHO LOVED ME.

Among the other specially commissioned costume recreations overseen by Lindy Hemming are Goldfinger’s golden dinner jacket, Pussy Galore’s golden waistcoat and the suit Sean Connery was wearing when he first appeared on screen in DR NO, together with originals of Roger Moore’s white tuxedo from OCTOPUSSY and Spacesuit from MOONRAKER.

Vehicles and gadgets on display include the 1964 Aston Martin DB5 which famously returned to the screen in GOLDENEYE; Pierce Brosnan’s BMW motorcycle from TOMORROW NEVER DIES; the attachĂ© case featured in FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE and Pierce Brosnan’s state of the art Ericsson mobile phone from TOMORROW NEVER DIES.

They take their place alongside original graphic drawings and models including the design for the Jetpack piloted by Bond in THUNDERBALL; the storyboard for the action sequence in YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE featuring mini-helicopter Little Nellie, together with the miniature Wet Nellie Lotus Esprit used for filming in THE SPY WHO LOVED ME.

The exhibition will transform many of the Barbican spaces including The Silk Street Entrance, the Curve gallery, the Pit theatre and some of the public foyer spaces to take visitors on a journey through a dozen themed rooms and environments reflecting 50 years of Bond style.

Tuesday 19 June 2012

Live Review - The Deviants

THE DEVIANTS

Robin 2 Club, Bilston, Wolverhampton

6th June 2012

The fact that there were three original members in this line-up alone warranted more of crowd than that which ventured forth to the Robin 2 Club, to see what was billed as The Deviants’ ‘only show out of London’. It may have had something to do with a collective post-Jubilee fatigue brought on by an extended bank holiday weekend; it may have been the diabolical weather (there’s nothing like a depressing wet and windy Wednesday afternoon in the West Midlands to dampen the spirits after all!). Or it might just have been that others were waiting to see them in London the following week, sharing a bill with Dirty Strangers, Sonja Kristina’s Acid Folk and headliners Beatnik Youth among others (as it happened that event had just been cancelled by the promoter but word had not yet filtered out). Or maybe it was a combination of all the above factors as to why this was so criminally under attended.
That said, those that did make it were treated to a mighty fine performance by this recently reconvened and ever improving line-up of The Deviants; featuring the original Deviants frontman Mick Farren and rhythm section of Russell Hunter and Duncan Sanderson, as well as latter day Pink Fairy Andy Colquhoun, and Nik Turner’s Space Ritual alumni Jaki Windmill on percussion and backing vocals.
The Deviants opened with a song that the Pink Fairies’ used to play live way back in the day: a cover version of The Velvet Underground’s ‘I’m Waiting For The Man’. Sandy’s vocals may have been a little rusty at times, but there’s still nothing wrong with the way he handles the bass! As the first song ends Mick Farren enters and takes to his now customary stool - centre stage. Andy Colquhoun introduces him as the “Godfather of it all” and the band then launch into an old favourite from Farren’s 1978 solo album Vampires Stole My Lunch Money. Next up is a thunderous rendition of ‘Leader Hotel’ - originally an acoustic number by Farren’s Tijuana Bible project.
Although the spectre of former Deviants and Pink Fairies guitarists Paul Rudolph and Larry Wallis are never far from fans’ thoughts, it can’t be denied that Colquhoun is a more than capable guitarist in his own right and he’s surely earned his spurs as the official Deviants guitarist. After all, he’s been a long time musical collaborator of Mick Farren’s since way back in the mid-1970s when Andy was in the punk band Warsaw Pakt. Since then he’s worked with Farren on numerous recordings, including different variations of The Deviants. He also joined Hunter, Sanderson, Larry Wallis and Twink for the Pink Fairies Kill Em and Eat Em reunion of 1987. Continuing as Flying Colours with Hunter and Sanderson after the departures of Twink and Wallis, they recorded a raft of new material, including a song called ‘Police State’. The Deviants performed it tonight with Colquhoun stepping up to the microphone for vocal duties whilst administering some blistering lead guitar. 

Farren returns stage-front again and introduces the band before concluding “We’re still standing”, until Sandy points out the stool, to which Farren then adds “... except me. I’m sitting - I’m getting too old for this shit!” That’s as maybe, but Farren’s still an imposing stage presence even if he’s not as animated as he once was, and given some recent health issues too, you’ve really got to hand it to him, at least he’s still getting out there and doing it.
The tempo slows down a bit on two new compositions, ‘Cocaine and Gunpowder’, from a new collection of poetry and other musings by Farren called Black Dogs Circled, and ‘Beautiful Women And Broken Machines’ - both go down equally as well as the older, more well known numbers. Having said that perhaps one of the loudest cheers of the night was reserved for ‘Billy The Monster’, that peculiarly oddball cross between the Bonzos, Zappa and the Fugs from the Deviants’ eponymous third album. Although live it lacks the unique basso profundo call and falsetto response routine as provided by Boss Goodman and Russell Hunter respectively on the original recording. Jaki Windmill handles the chorus part admirably enough, and it’s just amazing to see The Deviants, including three of that 1969 line-up, up there doing it anyway!
Another old Farren favourite benefits from the full band treatment as they barnstorm through a rollicking version of ‘Aztec Calendar’, before Colquhoun takes over on lead vocals again for ‘Stopped At The Border’. Then it’s another new song -“a narrative of old” as Farren describes it – called ‘Something To Do Between Cigarettes’. Fittingly enough it lends itself well to Farren’s suitably smoke ravaged voice - he recently had to quit the weed for health reasons. The last Deviants album proper, Dr Crow from 2002, is then visited for the jaunty blues number ‘Taste The Blue’, but the evening is made complete when they round proceedings off with the only other song from their ’60s canon of work to make the set – ‘Rambling B(l)ack Transit Blues’.
As if to prove that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, the band come together magnificently. Farren’s spoken intro gives way to the familiar explosive blues workout: Sandy’s bass rumbles like a B-52, and the way Hunter effortlessly pounds his kit it’s obvious he hasn’t lost any of that old skin-thumping magic of yore either, whilst Andy Colquhoun replicates the original guitar breaks with considerable verve over the distinctive bolero style section. Then it really is “time we all went home now” as the dying lyrics admonish us. There’s no encore, and the weather may have dampened the ardour of less doughty gig goers in the Black Country that night, but this doesn’t matter, it was a more than memorable occasion for those who did make it.
It may well have been billed as The Deviants’ ‘only show out of London’ on the posters, but after this solid performance I doubt it somehow. And there was more than enough enthusiasm generated among those present for this ever improving line-up of The Deviants to hopefully take encouragement from this and do some more provincial dates in the near future.
Rich Deakin

News – Trembling Bells Tour





TREMBLING BELLS 
UK tour dates August 2012

Following the release of their collaborative album with Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy 'The Marble Downs' on Honest Jon’s earlier this year, Glasgow troubadours Trembling Bells take to the road once more this August. Building on the successes of numerous releases the past few years, the restless band trace a path across the UK that takes in intimate venues and large festival shows.  

Encompassing aspects of all musical history, Trembling Bells synthesise seemingly disparate genres to create a sound that reanimates and reinvigorates the landscapes of Great Britain. Hocketing and hollering, they embrace the complex contours of Earlie Musik, the pastoral idyll of British folk and the bombastic swagger of classic rock, taking in country, American roots and electric psychedelia along the way. At the root of it all is a fascination with the power of vocal music, from modal medievalism to Hoagy Carmichael to Bruce Springsteen, the inventive ensemble celebrate the deep mysteries of Song.

The classically-trained tones of Lavinia Blackwall helm the band, supported by the evocative voice of chief songwriter and drummer Alex Neilson, while Simon Shaw on bass and Mike Hastings on guitar make up the pack. Originals, covers and traditionals will all feature.


TREMBLING BELLS AUGUST 2012 TOUR

Thurs 16th August – Manchester / Band of the Wall
25 Swan Street, The Northern Quarter, Manchester M4 5JZ
Ticket Price: £8.50 + booking fee
with support Dan Haywood's New Hawks

Sat 18th August –Wales / Green Man Festival
Glanusk Park, Wales
Ticket Price: £145 + booking fee
Weblink: www.greenman.net

Tues 20th August – London / The Dalston Victoria
Queensbridge Road, London, E8 3AS
Doors: 8pm
Ticket Price: £10adv + booking fee (£1.50tbc)
Weblink: https://fan.musicglue.com/sale/saleproducts.aspx?productid=9df6216e-d3a7-43be-973d-bfe6619347a1&resellerid=d5dedeb6-00a0-4a0d-8e5e-ca4ffd894e0e 

Tues 21st August - York / The Duchess
Stonebow House, York YO1 7NP
Ticket price: £7.00 + booking fee

Wed 22nd August – Hebden Bridge / Trades Club
Holme Street, Hebden Bridge, West Yorks HX7 8EE
Ticket price: £10.00

Thurs 23rd August – Leicester / The Musician
42 Crafton Street West, Leicester LE1 2DE
Ticket price: £7.00

Fri 24th August – Near Swanage / Purbeck Folk Festival
Langton Matravers near Swanage BH19 3DU
Ticket price: £85.00

Sun 26th August – Somerleyton Estate / FolkEast Festival
Lowestoft, Suffolk NR32 5QQ
Ticket price: £35.00 day/£96.00 weekend

Mon 27th August – Lancaster / The Yorkshire House
The Yorkshire House, Lancaster LA1 1DB
Ticket Price: £5 adv/£6
with support Dan Haywood's New Hawks

Tues 28th August – Dumfries  / The Venue 
 6/7 Church Place, Dumfries, DG1 1BW, t/f 01387 263623
Ticket Price: £8
Weblink: www.thevenuedumfries.co.uk
with support The Razorbills
Wed 29th August – Glasgow / Centre for Contemporary Arts
350 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow City Centre G2 3JD
Ticket price: £8.00 + booking fee
Press quotes on Trembling Bells

When the sublime chaos of Trembling Bells catches flame, we’re all delighted bystanders
The Word

Remarkable for their soaring, folk-influenced melodies and for the clear, powerful singing of Lavinia Blackwall
The Guardian

Wry humor and melodrama abound among the cacophonous instrumentation and protean song structures…Quirky and challenging, yet ultimately rewarding
Pop Matters

It’s full of staccato piano, protracted, reverberating guitars, and heavy brass over constantly evolving drums; it is frenetic, uplifting and joyful, despite the pessimistic, damning indictments of love and hope…
The Skinny

The group do cast their net wider than British folk. The pounding punk-prog number Otley Rock Oracle, channelling Mountain's Nantucket Sleighride, belongs by virtue of its hallucinatory folkloric narrative. Cold Heart Of Mine's blues harp connects Americana with its European roots and Hastings' raga like licks look East. In the 21st century nothing can exist in splendid isolation. The Constant Pageant offers a poetic incantation of British identity far brighter than Michael Gove's proposed GCSE history syllabus
Stewart Lee